One of the most often discussed challenges surrounding the automotive and energy industries are balancing personal mobility with sustainability, environmental and emission impacts of energy usage. Many enterprises, researchers, and government agencies strive to find solutions to the limited energy resources and the issues surrounding these environmental and emissions impacts.
In the automotive industry, many vehicles are designed and strategies developed for use with low emissions alternative fuels (e.g., CNG, LPG, Dimethyl Ether (DME)), renewable fuels (e.g., ethanol, biobutanol, biodiesel), or energy sources (e.g., electric and hybrid systems) in order to conserve energy and reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil.
With the growing use of a wider array of energy sources today, it is desirable to comprehensively and quantitatively evaluate the performance and emissions impacts of these differing energy conserving vehicle hardware strategies and components.